UCSC is proposing to increase its enrollment by about 25% in the next 10 years. I think the university should make a commitment to improve water conservation to the point where they can house that increased number of students without using any more water than we use now.
How much water do we really use on campus now? How much of it is used for landscaping? How much for food? Showers,dishwashing, research?
They should also commit to keep the number of vehicle trips the same. More buses, car share, innovative ways of connecting people to share rides.
And they should work with the town to house all of those people without impacting the existing housing market. I think high density mixed use housing, classroom and retail in the far west side by the old Lipton's and Wrigley's factories with very frequent shuttles from there to campus.
But do we really need to expand?
My understanding is that the increase in enrollment is caused by baby boom 2. By the time this constructin is done BB2 will be about over. Will we ever see that sort of increase in enrollment again or will the demand drop back down to where it is now?
Monday, January 08, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)